The folks behind CrossOver Games sent us a note that version 8.1.0 of their software has come out, and it's got some nice upgrades for Mac and Linux folks who prefer to run their games in Windows almost-emulators (it's based on Wine, and as we all know, Wine Is Not an Emulator) rather than Boot Camping over to the real thing. We tried out CrossOver Games a while back, and found it lacking in almost everything but Steam games, but actually that's OK, because lately Steam has a lot of games going on. Accordingly, this new version has support built-in for the brand new Left 4 Dead 2, as well as fixes for Steam's voice chat, a few upgrades for WoW on Linux and Guild Wars, and a couple of changes to ensure compatibility with Snow Leopard. Sounds like a nice solid upgrade -- owners of the software can grab it for free, or you can try out the app for yourself from their website.

In case you don't have the app yet, CodeWeavers also let us know that they're giving away a Linux rig that's the "ultimate" in... wait for it... gaming. Yes, putting together a Linux rig for gaming is like putting a UFC fighter on a dance show, but we guess stranger things have happened. Anyway, CrossOver Games will definitely help you play at least a few games on the decked-out rig, if you want a shot at winning the thing, all you have to do is pick up the software before December 1st. They'll pick a name out of a hat, and if it's yours, there'll be an awesome 'nix box headed your way. Good luck with getting smooth fullscreen Flash video to work. We kid! You Linux guys make it so easy.

Oh wait, what's that? Flash on the iPhone? I have no idea what you're talking about.

VMware Fusion has now been updated to version 2.05. The release number is Build 173382. It is a free update to all Fusion 1 and Fusion 2 owners.

The update includes:

• Support for Mac OS X Server guest operating systems with Intel Xeon 5500 and 3500 series processors
• Experimental support for Snow Leopard Server as a guest OS (32 bit only)
• Experimental support for Snow Leopard as a host OS (32 bit only)
• Reduces CPU usage when a VM is idle
• Contains more than 80 bug fixes

I applied the update this morning and had no issues. You can get a look at the release notes here. Your Fusion app should update automatically on launch, or you can download the update from the VMware support web site.

Thanks to Martin for the tip

Yet another MMO on the Mac -- EVE Online and World of Warcraft are already there, of course, and now NCSoft has announced that City of Heroes is coming to the Mac. Unfortunately, they're using Transgaming's Cider software to port the game, and as we've said before, the software isn't only unreliable, but it's got the dreaded SecuROM DRM attached*, as well. Not to mention that even the MacBook can basically run any game through BootCamp now, making a separate Mac version unnecessary in many cases.

But there is one thing we really like about this release, and that's that NCSoft is actually releasing the game on the Mac as a "special edition": players who buy the Mac expansion (which apparently will be a digital-only release) will pick up a free ingame teleporter item, as well as a special "Valkyrie" costume set usable on their superhero character. So if you do go for Transgaming's software, at least you can pick up some free ingame stuff for it. We're not so much for the DRM-laden emulation, but the free stuff we do like.

There's no set release date yet (they say it'll launch with the game's upcoming "Issue 13" update), but they're taking applications right now for an open beta, so if you're interested, sign on up.

[via Massively]

Update: NCSoft has contacted us to say that the Mac Special Edition of City of Heroes will not contain the SecuROM DRM. It was our understanding that all Transgaming releases would use the technology, but NCSoft says that theirs won't, so there you go.

First EA, and now gaming giant Ubisoft has inked a deal with Transgaming to wrap their titles in Cider and port them over to the Mac. Which seems like great news -- Ubisoft has a huge number of quality titles, and bringing those to the Mac must be great for gamers who appreciate a better operating system. But not so fast.

First things first, Cider hasn't exactly proven itself in terms of making great games, or even ports for that matter. And apparently Ubisoft is taking it slow -- rather than bring us games like Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed or the great Rainbow Six Vegas series, we're getting... wait for it... Catz and Dogz. Oh, and CSI: Hard Evidence, which was hardly a blockbuster on game shelves.

It's definitely good news that Mac gamers are getting more to play, but if this is all we're going to get, they can keep it. If they wanted to port us Far Cry 2 when it comes out, or maybe even the long-awaited Beyond Good and Evil 2 whenever it's done, awesome. But if all we're going to get is years-old bottom-of-the-barrel crapware, we'll stick with original Mac game developers, thanks.

[via Big Download]

Way back in February we posted on an experimental Palm emulator for the iPhone & iPod touch from StyleTap. At the time, they insisted that they were making no commitment whatsoever to release it as a product. Well, apparently they've gotten over their cold feet as StyleTap has announced their intention to bring StyleTap CrossPlatform to the iPhone and iPod touch. It will be available in "early July 2008" and more details will be released at that time.

I wonder if they delayed a bit too long. Obviously, they were waiting for iPhone 2.0, but with native software coming at the same time I wonder how much Palm software people will want. That said, there is a huge catalog of Palm software out there and having come from a Treo I can think of several applications (especially finance related) that I would love to have on my iPhone. What do you think; is there any Palm software out there you really want running on your iPhone?

[via iPhone Alley]

StyleTap produces software for Windows Mobile devices that allows them to run Palm OS applications. Now they've apparently produced an experimental build of the CrossPlatform Palm emulator for the iPhone / iPod touch, as you can see above. StyleTap makes clear that this is "NOT a product, nor is its presence here a commitment of any kind, express or implied, that StyleTap Inc. will ever release an official version of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Apple iPhone or iPod touch." In other words -- don't ask for a copy, no it's not in beta, and you can't have it. Nonetheless, this proof of concept is quite intriguing. So the question is: would you like to be able to run Palm apps on your iPhone or iPod touch?

[via Digg]

A group of iPhone hackers has just released version 0.0.5 of gpSPhone. gpSPhone is a GameBoy Advanced emulator for iPhone. As with all first releases, it's still a bit on the iffy side. Although "many games are playable", sound output is pretty awful and the GUI and instructions are being worked on. If you feel like giving this a try, here are a few things you really need to know:

• You have to run it from /Applications. The programmers obviously hard coded search paths and the app just will not work from any other location.
• You need to supply your own BIOS. You can easily google for instructions on dumping your own gba_bios.bin. If you decide to download one instead, the correct MD5 for a working bios is a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6. Stick the bios file into the .app folder.
• You need to supply your own games. We happen to already own Hello Kitty Party in physical ROM form. So that's what I decided to test out.
• Playback is...early. I'm sure that playability will improve in future releases but for now, it's not really in the "fun" category; more "interesting because this may grow into something usable". Add your games to /var/root/Media/ROMs/GBA.

Thanks Wayne

Oh it's on now. Engadget posted some more juicy bits for those thirsty to hack their Apple TV to do everything from read RSS to solving the holy grail of complaints: support for using an external USB drive as the media drive, thereby circumventing the limit of the device's pathetic 40GB drive.

First up is a slick RSS plugin for the Apple TV (pictured) that allows you to download and read news and blogs via RSS. Created by twenty08, the installation sounds fairly simple, as is editing the actual RSS file to add whatever feeds you like. Plenty more is on the way for this plugin, however, including extracting images from feeds and playing embedded videos right in the RSS item itself. Since the Apple TV and the very hackable technology that runs it are still shiny and new to everyone, twenty08 reminds us that hacks like this merely need a little time to develop and mature.

Another more bizarre hack is support for Apple TV game emulation, with YouTube user WildRoosterFilms posting a video of Super Mario Brothers running on the device with a hack that enables an N64 controller to drive the game. Check out the AwkwardTV wiki for more details on how to get this up and running.

Last but in no way least is Apple TV Hacks' announcement of a $1000 bounty to whoever can enable support for using an external USB drive for the Apple TV's media storage. While plenty of Apple TV users are happy to stream some of their content that the device's puny drive can't hold, this bounty clearly shows an interest from plenty of other users who are excited to have more on-device space for storing everything locally on the Apple TV itself. There are a number of criteria that must be met before the cash is handed over, however, so check out the rules if you think you have a shot at answering the prayers of claustrophobic Apple TV owners.

Damien found SheepShaver last February, and at the time this PowerPC emulation environment (great for running Classic on Intel Macs) had 'experimental' attached to its explanation. While I don't know if it can be referred to as a solid powerhouse environment even still, it seems to have come quite a ways since February; up to version 2.3, to be exact. The latest version has support for up to 1 GB of memory, many bug and crash fixes, clipboard updates, performance enhancements and more.

While it still might not be pretty, SheepShaver is one of the few, if only, methods I've heard of for running Classic on an Intel Mac.

One of disadvantages with Apple's migration to Intel processors will be the loss of the Classic (Mac OS 9) environment. Apple has said many times that the Classic environment will be incompatible with their Intel Macs. While this probably won't be a problem for many users, organizations like schools (who may have limited money to upgrade their sofware) will likely encounter a few situations where their new Intel Macs need a Classic environment to run a few applications.

Enter Sheepshaver, an open source PowerPC runtime environment capable of running PowerPC Mac OS 9 applications. The developer has relased an experimental version of Sheepshaver compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.4 for Intel Macs.

Apple may have dropped support for Mac OS 7.x --> Mac OS 9.x  applications with their move to Intel, but the open source community has provided us with a decent solution. When my Intel iMac finally arrives, I'll give this a whirl. Maybe C.K. can check it out in the meantime.